Vidalia faces Natchez across the Mississippi. Don José Vidal, secretary to the Spanish governor Manuel Gayoso de Lemos, founded the settlement in the 1790s, and in 1811 the territorial legislature named it Vidalia. In 1938 the Army Corps of Engineers told the town it would have to move because of a planned river cutoff, and many buildings were carried west to a new site. The old riverfront became a Corps yard where large concrete mats for river control were cast from 1946 to 1991.
Vidalia Landing is the park that replaced it, 58 acres on the river. Leaders cut the ribbon on December 15, 1999, and the project is dedicated to residents of the original Vidalia. The Riverwalk follows the line of the old Carter Street, with shelters, and Vidal Plaza sits near the old ferry landing. Phase one, more than two miles of riverwalk and roads, opened in 2000, and an amphitheater and fountain came in 2001. Public boat ramps and a walking and biking trail run through the park.
The Natchez-Vidalia bridge carries US 65, 84 and 425 over the river to Natchez. Vidalia Town Hall keeps a free collection of photographs of the old town and of the first bridge going up, and a marker on US 65/84 recalls the 1827 Sandbar Fight, in which Jim Bowie took part. The riverfront is a city park and open without charge.
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